This invention relates in general to railroad track cleaning equipment, and, more particularly, to a compact, mobile cleaning unit suitable for propulsion by a detachably engaged automotive vehicle.
Heretofore there have been numerous efforts to provide railway track cleaners for the purpose of removing from the road bed the debris, such as sand, gravel, cinder, dirt, etc., which consistently packingly builds up both between the rails and outwardly thereof. Such prior efforts were developed to overcome the inefficient, uneconomical manual clearing which had been done previously by road gangs. However, the prior cleaners were relatively complex, costly structures which were either self-motivated, that is, self-sufficient, or constructed so as to form a component of a train of railway cars mounted on the rails for travel therealong. Such cleaners consistently integrally involved entirely mechanical means for attempting to effect debris dislodgment and removal.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 2,505,501 which discloses a track cleaning car forming part of a locomotive-driven train and having a brush for sweeping debris forwardly, in the direction of travel, into a first elevating feed conveyor, thence onto a screw conveyor for delivery through gravity directly onto a second, forwardly located elevating conveyor for ultimate deposit in the same or adjacent car. The cleaning car of said patent was manifestly a most highly intricate structure, and one adapted for integration with compatible, associated railway cars and thus could not be easily transported from one operational location to another without rail travel of the entire train therebetween. The Donahue U.S. Pat. No. 2,550,979, although relating to a track sweeper generally for road bed dressing, that is, for distributing residual ballast, also is designed for transportability only upon railroad rails. Sweep units are mounted upon a specially constructed railway car carrying its own motor so that the same may be located at a preselected site only by rail travel without regard to the intervening distance or degree of difficulty in accessibility. Therefore, to overcome the time consumption for movement between treatment sites with all of the costly waste implicit therein, a multiplicity of such cars would have been required for treating simultaneously a plurality of mutually remote zones to avoid the critical down-time. Kling U.S. Pat. No. 2,748,720 discloses a self-motivated track cleaner unit which embodies within a single structure wheel means for engaging the rails and the ground adjacent thereto during operation. However, there are supported on the vehicle a multiplicity of conveyors, such as a screw conveyor, a feed conveyor, and an elevating conveyor so that all debris movement is only achieved mechanically. In view of the single purpose of this vehicle, the same is patently a most costly structure being without usefulness beyond its single purpose.
A railroad track sweeper is also shown in Kershaw U.S. Pat. No. 2,869,159 which is adapted primarily for removing ballast car drippings from between and alongside the rails. The sweeper of this patent also constitutes a railway vehicle containing motor means for effecting movement of the rail-engaging wheels and thus is entirely self-contained and totally dependent upon such rails for inter-operating site travel. The same also incorporates a transverse rotary broom for the purpose of throwing swept up loose materials forwardly over a transverse deflector and onto a conveyor for deposit on the road shoulders, as opposed to permanently clearing the track of the same. The track cleaning apparatus of Holley et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,379, although of more relatively recent vintage, still demonstrates the heretofore accepted reliance upon integrating the operating components upon a specially constructed railway car of such size and weight that it must perforce be moved from one treating area to another by rail travel alone regardless of the path that must necessarily be traversed between such areas. In this patent, debris is charged to the usual endless chain conveyor mounted on the car forwardly of a rotary brush unit for delivery to an integrated hopper and thence to a debris conveyor, whereby the self-motivated car constitutes a self-sufficient, integrated unit.
The present invention overcomes many disadvantages. In summary, the same constitutes a non-self-motivated compact, relatively lightweight, highly durable mobile unit adapted for detachable engagement to an independently constructed powered unit for travel. Such powered unit is an automotive vehicle designed for highway travel and thus is useful when not engaged to effect travel of the present mobile unit. The cleaner of the present invention contains a rotary broom assembly for dislodging debris between, and immediately outwardly of, and adjacent to, the rails of the road bed being treated and for facilitating withdrawal of the debris rearwardly within a receiving chamber which is subjected to the force of a vacuum for drawing the same directly, or as assisted by a transverse feed conveyor located rearwardly of the broom assembly, to a point spacedly from the unit for collection and ultimate disposition. Thus, the debris movement is effected by a vacuum so that heavy and costly lifting and elevating conveyors are obviated, thereby conducing to the lightweight and compactness of the cleaning unit. By reason of the light weight thereof, the same may be easily removed from the rails, as by conventional hoisting means, and carried by an over-the-road vehicle to the next operating area without having to be dependent upon rail movement. Said unit may be most economically employed by virtue of such facile transportability so that a single unit may be judiciously used to cover numerous treatment zones in a relatively short period of time and hence eliminate the need to resort to either a multiplicity of cleaning cars or to accept the costly, wasted time duration for travel between locations, all as requisite heretofore by prior art structures. Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a railway track bed cleaning unit which is mobile upon railway rails during operation but is of relatively light weight for ease of transport between operational sites by an independently constructed automotive vehicle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a track cleaning unit of the type stated which does not contain locomotive means, being non-self-sufficient, and hence is entirely dependent upon detachable engagement to an extraneous vehicle for motivation, which latter need not be adapted for rail movement.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a track cleaning unit of the character stated which is designed to clear the area between the rails as well as the ground containing the tie ends outwardly thereof and, if desired, the shoulder areas so that full clearance of a right of way is simultaneously achieved. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a track cleaning unit of the present invention which is adapted for reliably providing debris withdrawal from the treated zones through utilization of suction so as to obviate the costly and less reliable use of a multiplicity of mechanical components such as lifting and elevating chain conveyors.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a track cleaning unit of the present invention which contains a paucity of moveable parts so as to be break-down resistant.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a track cleaning unit of the present invention which is constructed of a limited number of wear-resistant components so as to be markedly durable in usage; which is adapted for trouble-free long wear; which is highly economical in manufacture and in operation; which is singularly effective in track clearance, being capable of covering up to forty-two inches beyond the tie ends; which may be assembled or disassembled in a minimum of time; and the operation of which eliminates the raising of dust.